The Federal Government has launched a major push to revive Nigeria’s oil and gas fortunes with the unveiling of 50 new blocks for bidding, a move projected to attract about $10 billion in fresh investments and raise national crude output by an additional 400,000 barrels per day.
Unveiling the 2025 Licensing Round in Abuja, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, said the newly released blocks span onshore, swamp/shallow water, and offshore terrains. They include 15 offshore assets, 19 frontier acreages, and one deepwater block.
Komolafe said the programme is designed to deepen exploration activities, grow national reserves, boost government revenue, and open up new employment opportunities across oil-producing regions. Over the long term, the government aims to deliver 10 billion barrels of oil in the next decade.
He noted that the core objectives of the bid round include expanding reserves, increasing production capacity, and creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs across technical fields, logistics, supply chain, infrastructure, and local content services.
In line with global energy transition trends, the licensing round also seeks to accelerate gas utilisation, strengthen transparency in accordance with EITI principles, and boost indigenous participation in the sector.
To make the process more attractive to investors, Komolafe announced a reduction in signature bonuses and several deliberate efforts to de-risk exploration. He said the commission has reprocessed thousands of kilometres of 2D and 3D seismic data, delivering sharper, high-resolution images of Nigeria’s petroleum systems to reduce uncertainties that previously discouraged investment.
According to him, investors will benefit from higher-quality datasets, reduced exploration risks, improved chances of discovery, faster appraisal timelines, and lower entry costs — all of which will shorten the journey from licensing to first oil or gas.
Komolafe emphasised that the 2025 licensing round aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s directive to make Nigeria not just open for business but “irresistible to investment,” offering a transparent, data-driven and investor-friendly environment for global energy players.
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